MANSEHRA: The driver and his son died of critical injuries after the truck plunged into a ravine in Ghanool area of Kaghan valley early on Thursday.

The accident occurred as driver Jehanzeb lost control of the truck loaded with concrete blocks and bound for Naran from Balakot negotiating a sharp turn on Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road.

The local residents shifted the deceased to a nearby hospital, where the doctors pronounced them dead.

The Kaghan police registered an FIR and began investigation to ascertain the exact cause of accident.

The funeral prayers of the driver and his son were offered in Paris area of Kaghan valley, where the people from different walks of life showed up in large numbers.

GARBAGE: The residents have complained that the tehsil municipal administration’s sanitation employees haven’t been doing their duty regularly since the start of Ramazan last week and thus, pilling up garbage everywhere in Mansehra city and its suburbs.

“We repeatedly requested the TMA sanitation employees to clear the streets of garbage, but to no avail,” resident Adnan Ali told reporters here on Thursday.

He said the streets and pavements in Mohallah Loharbanda, Mohallah Channia, Jandarbanda, Mohallah Ayub Khan and other areas of the city had literally become dumping grounds and triggering fears about the outbreak of diseases.

The resident insisted that the TMA recently got huge funds from the government for cleanliness campaign.

Another resident, Ajmal Khan, said the nazim should ensure the immediate removal of garbage heaps from the city and its suburbs.

“The TMA should place moveable garbage receptacles in the streets and roads before ensuring that the sanitation staff empty them on a daily basis,” he said.

WARNED: District police officer Mansehra Rabnawaz Khan has warned that strict legal action will be initiated against the violators of the National Action Plan.

The warning was issued during a meeting attended by the assistant superintendent of police, deputy superintendents of police and SHOs here on Thursday.

The DPO said the police won’t allow the celebratory firing and would deal with perpetrators strictly.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2018